The field of the invention is that of fitting out the interiors of ships.
The invention relates to a method of mounting cladding on a wall of a cabin in the living quarters of a ship, and to coupling elements for implementing such a method. For example, such cladding may be constituted by alleyway cladding.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of mounting cladding on a wall of a cabin of a ship, which method involves implementation costs that are low.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a bottom coupling element and a top coupling element that make it possible to provide constant and uniform spacing between the above-mentioned cladding and the above-mentioned wall.
These various objects and others that appear below are achieved by the invention by means of a method of mounting cladding on an already-installed wall of a cabin of a ship, said cladding being made up of a plurality of panels, said method comprising the following steps:
placing and fixing at least one coupling element at the bottom of said wall;
placing and fixing at least one coupling element at the top of said wall; and
placing and fixing said panels successively on said coupling elements.
The general principle of the invention is thus based on using coupling means to enable panels serving to constitute cladding to be secured to an already-installed wall of a ship""s cabin. The use of such coupling means makes it possible to obtain predetermined and constant spacing between the cladding and the wall.
In a preferred implementation of the invention, said cladding constitutes an element of an alleyway on a ship. The method thus makes it possible to equip ships""cabins with alleyway cladding on at least one of their walls. On this subject, it should be noted that, to the best of the Applicant""s knowledge, no prefabricated-cabin supplier proposes a cabin design that integrates cladding of the cabin face facing the alleyway into the prefabrication.
In a variant of the method, said already-installed wall is provided with at least one top section member and at least one bottom section member respectively co-operating with said top coupling element and with said bottom coupling element.
The invention also provides a bottom coupling element used for implementing the above-described method. In the invention, said bottom coupling element comprises at least three portions in a plane perpendicular to the cladding, namely:
a first portion that is substantially vertical and parallel to said panel;
a spacer second portion that is substantially horizontal and that provides spacing between said wall and said panel; and
a third portion that is substantially vertical.
Advantageously, said first portion is equipped with fixing means for fixing said bottom coupling element to said panel.
Preferably, said third portion is equipped with fixing means for fixing said bottom coupling element to said wall.
Advantageously, the method further comprises a step of adjusting said top coupling element on said top section member, making it possible to adjust the verticality and the alignment of said panels relative to the same panels of an adjacent cabin.
The invention also covers a top coupling element designed to be used to implement the above-described method. In the invention, said top coupling element comprises at least two portions in a plane perpendicular to said cladding, namely:
a first portion that is substantially vertical and against which the top portion of said panel bears; and
a second portion that is substantially horizontal.
The top coupling element and the bottom coupling element are such that they guarantee spacing that is constant and uniform between the cladding and the wall. The spacing between the cladding and the wall depends on the length of the second portion of the bottom coupling element.
It should be noted that the length of the second portion of the top coupling element may be arbitrary. However, the longer this second portion, the better, in particular, it withstands a lateral force.
Advantageously, said first portion is equipped with fixing means for fixing said top coupling element to said panel.
Preferably, said second portion is equipped with fixing means for fixing said top coupling element to said wall.